You are here

MAA Math Alert - April 2014

News

74th Annual Putnam Competition: MIT for the Win
A total of 4,113 undergraduates from 557 colleges and universities in Canada and the United States participated in the MAA-administered Putnam Competition on December 7, 2013. Massachusetts Institute of Technology took the top team honors. Read more.

U.S. Team Takes Second in European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad
The U.S. team of Danielle Wang, Alician Weng, Victoria Xia, and Rachel Zhang took second place (behind Ukraine) at the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad in Antalya, Turkey. Wang and Xia got individual golds, with Wang posting the second highest score of the competition. Weng and Zhang earned silvers. Visit theEGMO 2014 website for more information.

MAA Staff Featured in Pi Day Spot
A crew from PBS NewsHour shot footage in and around MAA headquarters for a segment called "How well do you know Pi?" Watch the video.

Brick Installation Honors Martin Gardner
In anticipation of the late Martin Gardner's 100th birthday in October and in celebration of the Gardner-inspired theme of this year's Mathematics Awareness Month, fans of the mathematics popularizer have chosen to honor him this spring with a cluster of bricks in the MAA's Paul R. Halmos Commemorative Walk. Read more.

Mathematics Awareness Month Daily Reveal Continues

The main attraction of the Mathematics Awareness Month website came alive on April 1, with each day bringing video exposition of a new mathematical, magical, and/or mysterious topic. Check it out.

MAA and Google Present Connected Classrooms to Celebrate Mathematics Awareness Month
MAA is teaming up with Google throughout April to present Connected Classroom events that will connect MAA speakers with middle and high school classrooms around the country. Video of the sessions will be archived on MAA's YouTube Channel. Learn more or watch the first session.

New Project NExT Leadership Team Selected
As of the August conclusion of MAA MathFest 2014, Project NExT will be under new leadership. Dave Kung (St. Mary's College of Maryland) will succeed Aparna Higgins as director, while Alissa Crans and Anthony Tongen will join the team as associate director and assistant director, respectively. Read more.

Announcements

MAA Seeks New Directors of Competitions and Publications
With the retirements next year of Steve Dunbar and Ivars Peterson, the MAA is conducting searches for new directors of both competitions and publications. Read the position descriptions: competitions / publications.

Prestigious Summer Program Offers Prizes for Innovative Curricula
The Summer Science Program (SSP) is seeking innovative curricula to expand its residential program for talented high school students. Authors of two selected curricula will each be awarded the $2,000 SSP Curriculum Prize and additional funding to test and launch their curricula. Find out more.

Your Amazon Purchases Can Benefit MAA
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite nonprofit every time you shop, at no cost to you. Want to funnel 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon purchases to the MAA? Start today.

Now Open

MAA MathFest Registation

Register now for the largest annual summertime gathering of mathematicians, held this August in beautiful Portland, Oregon. Visit the MAA MathFest website.

PREP Registration

The MAA Professional Enhancement Program (PREP) offers extended professional development experiences with active participant involvement, expert leadership, and support that allows workshoppers to make effective use of what they learn. Find out more about PREP orregister for this year's workshops.

IBL Conference Registration

Engaging with Inquiry-Based Learning: The 17th Annual Legacy of R. L. Moore IBL Conference will be held June 19-21 in Denver, Colorado. Learn more.

Upcoming Deadlines

April 30: MAA MathFest 2014 AbstractsAbstracts for the contributed paper sessions at MAA MathFest 2014 are due April 30. Submit yours. (If you're shooting for the MAA Undergraduate Student Paper Sessions, the Pi Mu Epsilon Student Paper Sessions, or the MAA Poster Sessions, you have a bit longer: until June 6. Learn more.)

May 9: Applications for MoMath's Rosenthal PrizeThe National Museum of Mathematics invites full-time fourth through twelfth grade math teachers at accredited schools in the United States to apply for the Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching. Applicants should submit an innovative, engaging, hands-on, original, and replicable math activity designed for students in grades four through eight for a chance to receive a cash prize of $25,000.Learn more.

May 19: L'Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowships ApplicationsThe L'Oréal USA For Women in Science fellowship program is a national awards program that annually recognizes and rewards five U.S.-based women researchers at the beginning of their scientific careers. Recipients receive up to $60,000 each that they must put towards their postdoctoral research.Learn more or apply.

Features

Making the Invisible VisibleApril's Devlin's Angle is short on text. It consists instead of a narrated videostream of an address Devlin gave at the MidSchoolMath Conference at the end of March. Watch the video.

Launchings on LamentationIn the April Launchings, David Bressoud revisits the subject of Paul Lockhart's A Mathematician's Lament and applauds those individuals and organizations working to address the problem outlined therein. Read the post.

In Praise of Clever MistakesIn the latest Math Ed Matters post, Dana Ernst argues that cultural wariness of making mistakes prevents students from really digging into mathematics. Read the post.

Develop Your SuperpowerHarvey Mudd College math professor Rachel Levy thinks that all math majors should take a public-speaking course to hone their ability to communicate to a live audience in a clear, compelling manner. She makes the case in April's Aftermath.